Various venting arrangements have been provided for allowing dishwashers of the above general type to admit dry air and exhaust moisture-laden air during the drying cycle of the washer so as to add to the efficiency of the drying operation. Examples are seen in several U.S. patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,469 to Schimke shows a passive venting system with an air inlet at the bottom of the door and an air outlet at the top of the door. A flapper valve controls flow of the air. The door top is considerably enlarged to accommodate the flapper valve and associated control linkage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,821 to Herbst also shows a passive vent. The air inlet is at the top of the door.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,681 to Schimke shows a dynamic venting system. Air is drawn in by a fan near the top of the door and exits through an outlet at the bottom of the door. The fan is energized continuously or intermittently during the drying cycle. The fan ducting is always open.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,092,122 to Guth and 4,247,158 to Quayle show other venting arrangements using flapper valves. Quayle also employs a fan at the rear of the tub which blows air over heating elements and into the tub.
Other venting configurations using fans are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,064,662 to Given, 3,130,737 to Jellies, 4,657,036 to Yake, 5,076,306 to Suzuki and 5,355,900 to Sakata.